yes get here e e e e it is 607 p.m. this is a regular meeting of the township of Washington in accordance with the requirements of the New Jersey statutes regarding open public meetings notice of this meeting was legally advertised in the South Jersey Times as well as posted on the Bolton board and the municipal building fire exits are located through the double doors to your left and right please silence all mobile devices this meeting is being videotaped anyone who does not wish to be seen on television may be excused this will be shown on Channel 9 every week Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Friday at 10 p.m. and Saturday at 10 p.m. and we'll continue until the next meeting this meeting is being live streamed on YouTube it can be viewed by clicking the link on our waston Township we web page please stand for the pledge of leave pledge allegiance to the flag United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible liy and Justice please be seated before we get started uh on Friday night our community lost a young Soul uh 16-year-old girl from Washington Township High School um so if we can just bow our heads in a moment of silence for her and her family during this time thank you roll call please Mr Delia here Mr deell here Mr Bennett here Mr Brown here Mr yurus President mayor Burns here Mr Russo Mr Javier thank you Chrissy um before we get to our regular meeting um I have an announcement that um effective immediately I'm going to step down as council president um just so and I know I don't have to give reason but uh you know my business and everything's been busy and I've G 110% since I've taken a position and if I can't give 110% even though it's 95% um that's not what the the township needs so I'm going to step down and um hand it over to the clerk good evening at this time I will take nominations for council president I'd like to nominate Peter Delo as council president I second that any other nominations hearing none nominations are now closed I will take roll call Mr Juris yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Brown yes Mr delpia yes Mr de yes thank you Mr deell will be us saring in sworn in by assemblywoman Beth Sawyer if you could come up stes all of office of best [Applause] of for congratulations C council president I'm handing the gab over to [Music] you okay well now take uh nominations for the council vice president okay we'll now take nominations for the council vice president have a nomination please Anthony Delia I I nominate Anthony Delia for Council vice president second second any other nominations [Music] seeing none closed oh roll roll call please Mr jurz yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Brown yes Mr delpia yes Mr debella [Music] yes commissioner commissioner Chris conell please come to the front yeah can you hear me okay [Applause] to before we start I just want to say a couple things first of all these These are big shoes to fill so thank you council president thank you to the rest of the council and mayor um I want to thank all choked up I want to thank Sue egman uh I know it was a lot for you to be here tonight I appreciate that I want to thank Meg my and my my children my parents and my brother you know you you you get into poliy because you want to make a difference in people's lives and then people like Sue wigman make a bigger difference in your life so thank you so much for being here it it it really means the world to me uh your friendship you know just everything you've done for me I I I could never thank you enough so thank you so much all right now we're gonna get into into our our presentations uh first we're gonna have Nicole Ludi come up and Nicole's gonna make a presentation about first responder special needs first responder bag that Nicole put together she made this presentation recently at Rotary and uh it just blew everybody away it's it's just an amazing idea and I think it's really going to make the difference in so many lives so if Nicole could come up and please make this presentation I'm Nicole uh this is my husband Steve uh this is Sophia um oh thank you I can stand over here I need my hands I'm just trying is this is this one I can stand here I just wanted to keep hurt um so my name is Nicole Leni this is my husband Steve cor Sophia um and this is SJ and this is Luke um we are the founders of the Blackbird Foundation just a little bit of a background we started the foundation in 2017 after um having some difficulty getting Sophia uh the equipment that she needed she was uh 2 and a half at the time and she still didn't walk [Music] um she's a very excited um so at 2 and a half she did not walk and we were trying to get her a gate trainer to help her walk and insurance kept denying her um so we had a really tough time getting the therapy services and equipment that she needed um eventually we were granted the piece of equipment and it took eight months to get to us thankfully she took her first steps in that time period so when she when the gate trainer came we gave it to another friend of ours that um their child wasn't walking that kid walked they gave it back to us we gave it to somebody else um that little girl she is also a Township resident she has it still to this day um but we realized how many families were having the same situation that we were with this lack of Need for their child to survive so um we started the foundation to be able to Grant therapy services and equipment to these families that insurance was taking too long or they were getting denied um over the years we also adapted the foundation into doing community inclusion projects um we've done communication boards throughout the school district um in the playground in public spaces um we've worked with other um organizations and other families and different organizations within the towns um to try to make sure different spaces are inclusive of everybody with special needs um so we have three big projects going on right now she's done um so we have the communication board project um they're specialized boards with different words to communicate if you're non-verbal um as a child or an adult um so they're going in the school district and also in the playground and we have a couple other uh public areas that we're working on throughout the county um another another project our biggest project right now is the all-inclusive playground in Washington Lake Park we are hoping to bring the first and only inclusion all inclusion playground to Gloucester County um so while I'm on that topic I just wanted to thank Anthony and Pete as well for being involved I could I've been trying to do this for years and I could not have pulled this off without their help Anthony every day he is doing something to make sure this gets done so thank you so much for that um I know there's a couple families here that this also would benefit this would benefit all kids um and of course to Pete too for being a support in that but it's coming one day so um we are hoping to get the grant for that and keep this project moving on so that's our big project but for now we're here to talk about these um backpacks so my husband is a longtime first responder he's currently with the Whitman Square Fire Company he was previously with Washington Township EMS um he worked in Kennedy Health System in the emergency room for a long time so we know the need for these from a first responder perspective and from being special needs parents um so this is a lightweight backpack um Sophia can't hold anything in her hands so this can be placed on the back of a child or an adult that can't physically carry something um inside the bags is you can the children are very invol these are noise noise cancelling headphones we have it's like Mary Poppins in here this is my least favorite sensory toy but it's the most popular um so we have a couple different fidgets and sensory toys in here um we have dark sunglasses and I can here keep hting uh we have a weighted lap mat um so this would go on a child or an adult's lap or be draped around their um thank you where be draped around their shoulders we have a sensory chew toy Sophia this is her favorite thing um she has a sensory input so she's always chewing on something a couple more fidget toys a pack of crayons and a notepad and what else we got in here poets poppets and we have this was created um by a um MD teacher in our district um with the help from a speech therapist these are um all different types of words that have to do with emergencies for kids that either are non-verbal or they are in sensory overload where they can't get word down so um I want hurt police fire help play stomach and they can point to eat drink more and it's a way to communicate so we already have raised enough money to be able to offer 100 of these bags um our first bags are going to be going to Washington Township police fire and EMS we have Gloucester Township uh Monroe Winslow I think Deford we've reached out to basically every um emergency response Department in South Jersey every department is willing to accept the bags we are doing everything on a donation so this is costs absolutely nothing to our First Responders um our donations have come from corporate um sponsorships they've come from Individual sponsorships um and donations family donations we have it on our website that you can sponsor a bag and in the bag show the sungl um in the bag will be a note card sponsored from so and so family or a child or if you have a business you can put your logo on it sponsored from the craft room or wherever you're from and we have a space on there where you can choose your municipality so we're encouraging towns to send it to their own town Facebook pages and if you're from Blackwood you can put would like the bag to go to Black and then we would send them on their way to municipalities we will ship them anywhere we will hand deliver them anywhere next week on Spring Break um Sophia EST and Luke will be going to distribute them to our local uh organizations like I said Washington Township's going to get our first batch of bags um so if anybody is listening and wants to sponsor bags our um Facebook page is Blackbird foundation and our website is www.black birdfly dorg um you can go right on there sponsor a bag we will get them directly to your department um so right now with the hundred bags it sounds like a lot but we're only able we're putting one in each Washington Township ambulance there's a few going to the fire department and we're able to outfit police for like one per squad or one per Shi excuse me our goal is to get one in every vehicle we I I think Chief G like Homie we have like 92 cars or something like that so our goal is to sponsor enough bags to put one in every emergency response vehicle and then have extras where if they needed to be used and these are even good for typical kids in an emergency that maybe the sound or the lights are too much just as a Comming it helps the help First Responders it helps them help them um so uh right now we're able to fit each department with a few bags we want to fit every Department with all vehicles and backups so when when they use it they have backups um to replace them so that's pretty much our project um you can find on our website on our Facebook and um thanks for having us it phot mar mar you have a few words at call um I could not agree more with your vision of community where of a community where everyone regardless of their abilities feels safe valued and supported these special need these Special Needs first respond facts are just another example of your genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of those around you I know you don't like this stuff but you're you're consistently there for our community members in time of need always offering your support guidance and compassion and and you do it without hesitation um why Washington Township may be the largest municipality in gler County but we have a small town heart and it's because of people like you that make us shine um on behalf of our community and everyone in this room I I extend our gratitude to you for your kindness your compassion your generosity and I'm very very proud to call you my friend so thank you than you're done thank you mayor now we'd like to bring up Kelly Stout who is Miss wheelchair New Jersey Kelly please come up she tring so Kelly Stout's platform as wheelchair Miss wheelchair New Jersey is a powerful Testament um to her dedication to creating positive change for individuals with disabilities by advocating for increased awareness of the need for caregivers she shines a light on the fundamental importance of Independence for people living with disabilities your efforts serve as a catalyst for for for fostering a more inclusive Society where everyone has the support they need to live fulfilling lives your passion empathy and determination Inspire us all to work towards a world where every individual regardless of ability can Thrive and flourish independently so we ask you here tonight and we have other legislators here um that want to hear your platform and I'd like to acknowledge um we have a congressman Norcross is he was out of town he could not be here but we have a representative from his office dalen Hackley he's back here if you you can come up if you like we also have our two assemblymen from legislative district 4 um Dan Hudson and Cody Miller on the county level we have our director Frank dearo and we have our commissioner Chris conell you want to say something no Dan okay do you have do you want to say something she's she's oh you w okay in recognition of Kelly Stout Miss will chair New Jersey 2024 whereas the claer County Board of Commissioners would like to take this time to honor and recognize Kelly Stout M wheelchair New Jersey 2024 and whereas Kelly was awarded winner of Ms will chair New Jersey 2024 on October 15 2023 with her platform independ Independent Living For All whereas Kelly graduated from Cherry Hill High School West and attended Wright State University majoring in science whereas Kelly worked at the office of disability services helping students with disabilities may make successful trans transition from high school into college whereas Kelly then worked as a transitional specialist for the Ark of New Jersey under the cares program where she developed re-entry resources for people with disabilities who became involved with the criminal justice system whereas Kelly graduated from Wright State University with a master's in Rehabilitation Counseling and now uses her extensive knowledge passion and education as a case manager for St John of God Community Services to enrich and improve the lives of others whereas Kelly will travel to Grand Rapids Michigan in August to compete for the national title of M wheelchair America we all wish her the best of luck now therefore be complain proclaimed that I Frank J DeMarco as director and on behalf of the 2024 Gloucester County Board of Commissioners Jim Jefferson Matt Wang Nicholas toio Denise De Carlo Joanne gattinelli and Christopher conell Jr do hereby recognize Miss Kelly Stout as Miss will chair New Jersey 2024 Kelly we have one more Proclamation we're going to read and this one is from myself and all the council members here Miss Kelly Stout as wheel as Miss wheelchair New Jersey 2024 whereas the mayor and Council of Washington Township recognize outstanding individuals who make significant contributions to our community and whereas it's Miss it's Miss Kelly Stout has demonstrated exceptional leader leadership advocacy and resilience in her role as Miss wi chair New Jersey and whereas Miss Kelly Stout a remarkable individual has been selected to compete in this prestigious Miss wheelchair America 2025 pageant representing the strength determination and spirit of New Jersey and whereas Miss Stout's platform focuses on increasing awareness of the crucial need to secure caregivers enabling people with disabilities to live independ independently thereby highlighting the importance and of accessibility and inclusion within our society and whereas despite facing challenging due to  quadropole cereal py Miss Stout has exemplified courage preserv preservation and Grace inspiring others to overcome obstacles and pursue their dreams and whereas Miss wheelchair America serves as a beacon of empowerment for people with disabilities providing them with a platform to advocate for themselves and others fostering a more inclusive and Equitable society and whereas it is essential to recognize and celebrate organizations like Miss wheelchair America which play a vital role in championing the rights and dignity of individuals with disabilities promoting awareness and driving positive change in our communities now therefore be it Proclaim that I lri J Burns as mayor and on behalf of the 2024 Washing Township Council Peter Del barell Anthony delpia Rich Bennett Don Brown and Jack yeres do hereby recognize and commend you Miss Kelly Stout for her for your outstanding achievements and dedication to the community we extend our heart heartfelt congratulations and best wishes as you compete in Miss wheelchair America 2025 pageant furthermore we encourage all residents to support Miss Kelly Stout and the Miss wheelchair organization in their mission to promote accessibility inclusion and empowerment for individuals with indiv with disabilities Peter you want to say Something's Gonna say hi Kelly I'm humbled I'm Dan please accept this uh citation from the New Jersey State Senate and the State Assembly which recognizes you for your advocacy work and good luck in your competition thank you well we also would like to congratulate you um the Board of Commissioners uh commissioner conell actually brought this to my attention and I looked it over it said all the all the good things in there disabilities uh uh Solutions or U what whatever the department is uh Ark of New Jersey and uh St John of God used to be I'm I'm a deer guy used to be over there a lot I used to have the uh for a number of years they used to have the superstars from the uh um what is it the oh my God I'm drawing a blank on the on the name uh I know it is I know it is but with th those three things mentioned we want to say congratulations uh you gentlemen made me nervous when I walked in I thought oh my God what the heck did I do thank God he's only moved a couple of feet congratulations to both of you and congratulations to you all right Peter it's all you well Kell's another person you get to meet when when we actually became friends on social media and uh we got to meet up and and we we were talking for about what felt like an hour and a half we went we covered every topic from religion to politics to every issue you shouldn't talk about we just had such a great time together and it was so important that that I really want everyone to hear your mission and what you're doing and bringing all these legislators together all here for you tonight so please tell us all about about your platform well thank you so much well well thank you so much everyone this is such an amazing honor um so as Peter mentioned um um my platform is um independent living for all so even though there is a lot of different things that go along with independent living for people with disabilities my platform as long said focuses on securing Caregivers for people with disabilities and so when I was moving into my apartment that was something that I struggled with and so um I struggled with um not only finding them but having them for like a long time you know a couple of them had to leave for different reasons and so other things that I noticed were also important were like seeing how I could get along along with them and seeing how you know how they um treated me like if they treated me well and if they like put my my wellbeing above their own so those are a couple things that I think are really important for people with disabilities in terms of like um having people help them you know I was wondering um how many of you in the audience are parents of kids with disabilities so I'm sure many of you wonder what is going to happen to your child when you when you are no longer here and um I personally have three amazing sisters who I know will be there for me and I know that you know know it's unfortunate that not every every person with a disability has that so that's why I really want to advocate for people with disabilities to have all their services for a secure and caregivers so they can live on their own and also so you parents don't have to worry about what's going to happen to them cuz I know that that's a big um concern I know for all parents in the future whether your child has a disability or not so I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone and I'm so thankful for this opportunity thank [Applause] you okay thank you I'll hold it want me to move it down I you want to see the prop yet we'll move these them over here I'll give them to you it up how's that is that good all right we got it congratulations you're welcome you too you're a very good public speaker like you done it must be the I would never say that not public that concludes our s uh portion of our meeting if anyone wishes to leave they could do so now just my parents he my brother other dou rolls my wife and son okay that Mom left okay whole F club's going all right now we need now we move Bist y we need approval for Bist okay now we need approval for the bill list can I have an approval motion moot second roll call please Mr jerz yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Brown yes Mr delpia yes Mr deell yes can I have a motion to approve the regular minutes from March 13 2024 I make motion second have roll call please Mr YZ yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Brown yes Mr delpia yes yes Mr debella yes the following resolutions are by consent agenda only and require a vote for all listed each one must be read by title if any member of the council wishes to have one removed and heard separately they need to indicate prior to the reading of these titles does anyone need anything read separately uh council president I believe uh we have request to pull out resolution 111 and do that um first will the clerk please read that resolution 111 2024 resolution appointing Adam malamut Esquire of malamut law as solicitor and authorizing the proper officials to execute an agreement for Professional Services second roll call please Mr jorz yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Brown yes Mr delpia yes Mr debella yes now if the clerk will please read the other resolutions you have a chair chair yes it'll get me used to work on the microphone was there any discussion any other the resolutions anybody have any discussion anything okay please read the resolution please onto resolutions r108 2024 resolution approving a large Gathering application for JMK events taco and food truck festival in Washington Lake Park on July 13th 2024 resolution 109 2024 resolution appr approving a large Gathering application for JMK events food truck and music festival in Washington Lake Park on October 12th 2024 resolution 110 2024 resolution to authorize the submission of a Grant application for FY 2024 local Recreation Improvement Grant with the Department of Community Affairs resolution 112 2024 resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the office of Senator Corey Booker congressionally directed spending allocation request FY 2025 for roadway infrastructure improvements to American Boulevard in the township of Washington resolution 113 2024 resolution awarding a contract for the purchase of 17t finishing mower tractor for the Department of Public Works through sourcewell Cooperative pricing system resolution 114 2024 resolution awarding a bid to ARG and bright landscaping and long Care LLC for 2024 property maintenance services resolution 115 2024 resolution approving the release of a safety and stabilization bond for Burger King located at 101 Blackwood Barnes boow Road Block 7.01 lot 6.7 and project number 0818 P 48212 resolution 116 224 resolution cancelling ta taxes for salvator art mazaka a totally disabled veteran at two South Mars Court effective February 11 2024 resolution 2017 2024 resolution cancelling taxes for George Allen Tucky a totally disabled veteran at 66 Quail holler Drive effective February 23rd 2024 resol resolution 118 2024 resolution cancelling taxes for James Ryan Reeves a totally disabled veteran at 50 peacock Circle effective February 27 2024 resolution 119 2024 resolution cancelling taxes for Edward Park Jr a totally disabled veteran at 11 Farmingham Drive effective March 5th 2024 resolution 120 2024 resolution authorizing refund of tax overpayments and lastly resolution 121 2024 resolution approving the addendum to the agreement between the township of Washington and Municipal Services Ser supervisors superintendent and coordinators thank you Chrissy can I have a motion to approve resolutions 108 d24 through 11024 second second and 11224 through 121 d24 motion Mo second roll call please Mr jorz yes Mr Bennett yes Mr Brown yes Mr delpia yes Mr deell yes all right now we're going to move on to Old business new business anybody any old business new business to discuss let's move reports all right Mr Bennett Council Bennett as usual my my thing is don't speed SL Downs it is good ide also St sign it's important to make sure that you are doing um is on car show I mean Stone House reservation we're going to have car show on the 27th we also will have a clean up on the 20th which we'll put out on the web you know if anybody like to volunteer some time if you need the help um it's a lot of work to do an event like the car show I spend most of my time for the hours the parking lot I whether it's organiz help it's your organiz very that but again get out to the car show also with the car show we have a booklet like advertise in that more than wel um also um birday is coming up more information thank you councilman Bennett councilman Brown I attended the library Board of Trustees nothing really to report from there at uh this point um monitor their website uh the calendar um and continue to use the library um staff is uh hardworking for our Township res residents and uh next month they will be coming here to discuss Library events um and promote the library even more that's it okay coun Yus yes thank you uh if I could piggy back on what council and Venice said you know throughout the township when we're driving you come to a major intersection like Green Tree Road and Egg Harbor and Green Tree Road herel crossy please if it's a 45 mph Zone you're approaching the inter section please slow down when people are making leftand turn right hand turns I see people zipping through the intersections not reducing their speed and the law does require you to reduce your speed that's how accidents happen unnecessarily just slow down to 25 30 miles an hour so that you can prevent that type of thing and I've been asked uh to um he wanted me to talk about the community of plots that are down at the uh Washington Lake Park uh right off of Green Tree Road that entrance they're 10 by10 and Leon how much are they per year how much $15 okay contact the people at public work space advisory comme 1966 established a community garden in Washington Lake Park the garden is located at the Green Tree Park entrance there are 30 large 10x10 foot plots with access to water the garden was created so that residents who do not have space for a garden could exercise their Green Thumb gardeners can plant whatever they desire whether it's vegetables or flowers however eco-friendly practices are encouraged there still are a number of garden plots available on a first come first start basis there is a modest $15 fee which entitles you to Garden well into November for additional information call the Washington Township Public Works office at 856 589 3227 thank you and real quick I do I've had a garden there for the last four or five years and it is great and uh uh Leon will tell you I probably have the most wild garden there uh but it t it takes a lot of work to take care of it plus uh it's a weed Heaven over there so you have to be a good weeder president d uh thank you C president um first off in three years I haven't got anything from his garden so I don't know he's to the meeting but I agree with you uh first I want to congratulate uh one of my best friends Peter Dell want become a council president um I I know I know you'll fill the shoes in then some so uh I wish you a lot of luck and obviously I'm here to help and we're going to still be your team moving forward so congratulations I wish you all the best um I want to thank you all the dignitaries that came today all our commissioners and uh assembly men uh seven wom um thank you for coming it's an honor to have you guys in our audience congratulations to Kelly Stout we wish her the best moving forward um I want to thank Nico and udy um I've known Nicole our kids actually went to preschool together and uh she does a lot of great stuff not just uh some of the things she St talked about but there's actually other things she does too so um we're lucky to have her in our community so uh you know hopefully she continues good things and you know we get our playground done together um and I I want to bring up the Bennett family um obviously I mentioned earlier uh they lost their daughter on Friday night um this is the time where as a community we have to get together and support our our members um it was it was a tragic loss uh me and C Della were there Monday setting up a crisis center at the high school and you know seeing those high school students upset I mean it it it made me Pete upset also so um you know as a community if you could donate whether it's a meal or part of a meal anything you could do to help them let them know that as a community we have their back and we're here for them for what whatever they would need so that's all I have C mayor Burns I have a couple things I want to say yeah but first Vicki texted me and she said um the environmental commission has a few slated activities planned for Earth Day so there'll be more to come for that and then she said that the Green Team environmental commission and the open space committee will be kicking off a CommunityWide tree planting campaign it's called Washington Township Relief on Arbor Day um and the challenge is going to be uh we want to plant 5,000 trees um I think that's over a period of time um but she says there's going to be more to come so stay tuned and keep an eye out for that I just want to remind everyone that this Friday March 29th is National mom and pop business owners day small businesses are a vital part of Washington Township community let's show our mom and pop shops that their much deserved appre appreciation by shopping locally and supporting small businesses not only on this Friday but every day um and then I just want to say yesterday along with uh Council well council president it was Anthony at the time and vice versa we um joined the Tri-State veterans memorial fund members um to present mark from Paul's healing Heroes with a check for his organization if you not heard if you have not heard of Paul's he healing Heroes you should look them up they're an organization de devoted to pairing service dogs who primarily are from shelters with veterans in need I'm not sure if many people are aware of this um but 22 veterans per day die from suicide by connecting a veteran with a dog it helps give them a purpose and helps them feel more comfortable with their day-to-day lifestyle to make me it's a win-win situation as they as they bond their um as their bonds are formed between the heroes and their Furry Friends um they become companions it's nothing short of extraordinary and to um they save each other with their companionship uh if you're looking for an organization to do to donate to as well as do uh Nicole's Blackbird foundation and you know the Bennetts and all that stuff really look into Paul Paul's healing Heroes it's it's fantastic and if you would have seen these dogs yesterday with with the veterans that came it I could have spent all day in here with them it's just fantastic um and finally as everyone has already touched on last week we lost one of our young residence um in a horrible motor vehicle accident um as a mom I as soon as I found out about it I wanted I I cried it broke my heart but as all of our hearts ache for her family her friends and the community of fected by this devastating loss I can't help to feel so incredibly proud to live here in Washington Township the way the community comes together and the wake of a tragedy for anyone in need never ceases to amaze me we find we really are a big town with a small town heart and I'm honored to be the mayor here um and and and I'm and I love calling Washington town to my home because of this um as we move forward I think we need to remember to always be there for our neighbors and to and to help everyone we're a community that stands together thank you thank you mayor VA Russo um first I would like to congratulate malamut and Associates for their um appointment solicitor Mr Wright welcome aboard um I'd also like to thank the law firm of King mench and Collins for their assistant through our transition um Matt Brian and chrisna have been absolute professionals and uh it's been an honor work with and look forward to Contin you're working with your thank you have anything to say okay yeah look forward to working with you absolutely so I'm going to say the same things first I want to thank my wife and my son Peter was here I also have Nico Blaze and Jackson that weren't here I want to thank the assembly woman I want to thank uh commissioner Conwell you know the thing uh about this and stepping into uh it really is big shoes Anthony Anthony's right we've become so close he is such a a a dear friend we talk seven or eight times a day so I'm on the phone mag knows I'm talking to Anthony but he cares so much and he's more than just a friend he's been a real Mentor I mean I've learned so much from you a and and having you next to me is has really been honestly this has been one of the Thrills of my life being in this job to go back to what what's going on with with Sophia Bennett is it's true we're 50,000 strong here in Washington Township but we're a big town that that's really more of a small town feeling to see because there's no words in times like this right there there's no words there's only actions and every resident has come out you see it on social media you see them coming out there's fundraisers are happening now I know that that Reas is working on something right now I was talking to Mayor and and also Council vice president about maybe having a wall in our park to remember their smiles remember their faces remember their names because I think that's what parents really worry about like we were saying you know remembering their children never forgetting them remember Sophia and people like Tony Donado and RJ and and Nikki Kini never forgetting their names so there's something we're going to do for this we're already going to work on it we're going to come up with something we're thinking the park right we're thinking somewhere where all other children will see those and their pictures will be up there and they'll see their smiles because they've really made such a difference here in town so please continue to do that um again like I said this is an honor to be here uh a little rusty so I'm gonna you know we'll get through that anything else I want to add I'd just like to add a few things on the sopia Bennett uh a friend a family friend did start a gofund account unfortunately I don't know exactly uh how to get there but I do know it's on Facebook for those that would like to uh donate through that also uh somebody set up a venmo um they'll they're taking any donations doesn't matter they're taking anything I I do know that she does have younger siblings that are also going to need attention as well um so if anybody if you want to call my office tomorrow I'm in the clerk office we could try to find that information out for those that are interested in that um we do have a shred event being held on April 6th here in the municipal building parking lot um from 9:00 a.m. to noon there is a limit of four bags or boxes per car paper clips and Staples are okay but no binders or binder clips um all dogs are required to be registered and vaccinated please reach out to my office here at the at the municipal building and the clerk's office and we can assist you and F uh the primary election will be held Tuesday June 4th the deadline to change your party aici affiliation is April 10th the deadline to register to vote is May 14th if you have any information questions the clerk's office is a great resource um for information if those if you should need that and also Friday March 29th in observance of Good Friday Friday we will be closed and we will reopen on Monday April 1st um happy Easter and holy weekend to everyone okay now this time we're going to open up to the public please before meeting the public I would ask that everyone please file the public decorum posted which also is attached to the public agenda and limit your comments to five minutes once you've complet your comments or questions please take a seat and I'll ask if any member of the governing body or their designate wishes to address the comments or questions at by the person who just spoke can I get a motion open to the public please B call oh sorry all in favor I now we open to the public hello my name is Charles Hughes 31 North child Street Woodbury New Jersey thank you for letting me speak tonight I handed out you should all have handouts uh the front page has everything in it and everything else is backup I'm talking to you in general about transportation in Washington Township uh the first thing I'd like to talk about is a a proposed Light Rail Project from glbo to Camden called the GCL and I assert that Washington Township would derive no benefit from that uh in 199 6 the cam or Gloucester County Board of freeholders put out a resolution opposing the Light Rail and it shut the project down for seven hours or seven seven years pardon me uh Freeholder director James Atkinson said the money could be used in a better fashion than on the state recommended Conrail route and they called it the Conrail route because there were other uh ideas of running the train or buses down 42 and and 55 he went on to say it doesn't address the 4,000 car trips a day coming out of Washington Township saidak in a Township resident he's the one that the the county park is named after also he said that the route ignores a major employment center the pur land industrial park on the other side of the county in Logan Township now we've been studying this for three years and uh today we believe that the best mass transit idea for glester county is called demand driven ride share and it's successfully operating in Jersey City Camden City and New Brunswick the the program in Jersey City has moved 2 million people since it was instituted in 2020 it works just like uber does if anybody's ever taken Uber uh my friend and I went to Camden 2 weeks ago I downloaded the app onto my phone uh it knew where I was I said I want to go to this restaurant it said in 20 minutes a driver called Cecilia in a black uh Chrysler minivan with the following license will pick you up and 20 minutes on the dot they showed up it cost me two bucks and it cost him two a dollar and all these systems work that way I'm trying to find out how much the real cost of it is because I think it does get subsidized but the these uh these vehicles these minivans fleets that they have are always full the New Jersey Transit buses in South Jersey are always empty so that's why these things only work if people need them there was a there was a an article a letter to the editor in the South Jersey Times that I saw back in in January and it was entitled jobs grow in South Jersey but Working Poor cannot reach them and it was by Frank Miner the mayor of Logan Township and he said I'm sitting on top of 4500 job opportunities but close to a thousand of them could be filled by The Working Poor people who don't have cars because they don't have money and I have no way to get there and he said went on to say that he negoti ated with with uh New Jersey transit to have Round the Clock buses because they do three shift operations I sent them an email I sent them the information for the mayor of of um Jersey City and Camden and uh some others and said why don't you put your heads together and do something he's moving out on a ride share system uh I asked him where you getting the money from isn't that a that's an important question always sure he said I got 120 businesses in Logan Township and I told them that I was going to help them get good employees and they said we're so I think they're going to do a public private partnership now there are there are lots of people in Washington Township I think there's 2 200 people below the poverty line in Washington Township if they could get to work they would work so if you get a chance talk to Mayor m and maybe you could put your head together on that and the last thing I'd like to say is I'd ask you to think about if you agree with me that that this light rail isn't going to help Washington Township even though you're going to contribute through your state income tax to the5 billion price tag for it and the $50 million a year operating cost for it then please consider a resolution opposing this and the rest of this package I have I have um resolutions Woodbury Heights put out one Pitman put out one Winona put out one manua put out one and then historically I put the one from glester County in there as well uh you see what the other so four out of the seven municipalities along the line in GL glester County are opposing it and this time next by December we think that we're going to have Woodberry Westville and Glassboro uh voting on this in ballot questions Gloucester City and uh Brook law as well so thank you very much thank you Mr appreciate that thank you thank you good evening my name is Tony alvario I live at 522 Delaware Street in Woodbury and uh I am one of the people that spearhead this this fight with the GCL uh let me give you a little bit of background I want to speak too much because I could talk about this thing for hours and hours and hours and give you all kinds of information I just want you to know that most of the research that's coming out that's doesn't agree with what the the Delaware uh pter he says comes out of our group okay we are the one that distributed all the research mainly because Char is an is an engineer satellite engineer and I was a an analyst for the philia Housing Authority I did I um directed four of their departments for over 30 45 years so I know what I'm talking about um but what I want to tell you basically is that we are an adult fight and we're in a dog fight with the gler count we're in a dog fight because although we are not political because we have people in there Democrats Republican and and and uh and Independence sometimes this thing gets political okay but with the with the with the county it it's a particular situation because this is Mr Sweeney and Mr nor baby that's they're push is thing full full blast now if you look at the map the little red line that you see on the map that's 18 miles every other place in South Jersey it's a transportation desert you cannot get there anywhere except three lines by buses and those buses are empty so we started fighting this thing because mainly it impacted negatively on every one of the township along that rail okay so we said well you know you can't fight something if you don't have something to replace it and that's why we came out and we we actually found a good replacement Mr uh ju talked about right share I wish you keep keep uh that in mind because it works it works very well what we are hoping that's going to happen here is that we get a right share County wise so that we can cover and service the whole County and let me tell you a couple of bucks to go throughout the county county is not a bad idea it's a good idea okay uh this thing for you particularly is bad because you're paying for it and you're getting absolutely nothing for it we're getting some something for it we're getting all the negatives okay and every Township has a particular negative if you go to Westville they got water Negative they actually want to put a station in a wetland they don't tell you that in the in the environmental statement okay but we find out okay in wiona they would contaminate all the water uh lakes around we knowa in Woodbury wood be I don't know if you if you ever been uh on on um Delaware Street from the station to the uh to the Main Street on Del on uh would would be would be Delaware changes in uh Cooper to Delaware and then the other one is Broad but if you go up from the station to the to the to the light it takes four minutes when during traffic time to go from the station to the light this light rail comes every 7 and 1/2 minute every seven and a half minute can you imagine the kind of gridlock they're going to have over there okay one another big EV thing that we don't like is the cost the cost of this thing is immense it we we we figure out now it's about5 billion $5 billion to cover just a little bit of a red line wi $5 billion by a lot a lot of rice share vehicles that could C every one of us a couple of bucks so why are we why are we back in this monstrosity we're back in this monstrosity because Northwest and swed and all the people in the gon County that's what they want okay we're hoping that you hear us and we're hoping you heard what Mr uh you saying we like to have this thing on on the ballot on the on the docking for next next uh meeting and maybe you can pass a resolution against it and back us up okay thank you very much thank you very much appreciate time that's one seeing none motion to close to the public motion all in favor hi I was just brought to my attention that today is uh Jersey Mike's 100 uh charity uh day of giving at their locations on Anor Road the AC Plaza and over on the blackor Pike if you have time stop by pick up some dinner 100% of their proceeds go to uh their charity um so that you have time stop by tonight on your way home thank you so much motion to adjourn second our next meeting will be April 10th at 6 p.m thank you